Finding parking for this hike was a little tricky since the trailhead sign is surrounded by No Parking signs. I thought the point of a trailhead was a place you could park while you hike. We ended up parking a little further east in the rodeo lot.

We included the Peach Loop at the western end of the Peach Orchard Trail, which made for a hike of about 8.8 miles in length. The maps for the PATS indicate that the Peach Orchard Trail is 3.7 miles one way and the loop is 2.6 miles. According to my GPS, it was more like 3.4 and 2.1 miles.

The weather was very cool for most of the hike as we got started before 7am. The clouds kept the sun off us for most of the time and there some nice breezes. Only at the end did it get a little hot and that was only during that final ascent back up to the TH.

The views of the northern Mazatzals were really nice along the Peach Orchard Trail. At the upper end of the Peach Loop there were also some nice views of Mt. Ord and Four Peaks and the Mogollon Rim.

Since the mileage was shorter that we expected, we finished by 11am and was home in Mesa just after noon, beating all the Sunday Salt River Tubing traffic along the Bush Highway.